PREMIUM

Nina Caplan – the best of AP Ventoux

‘Liébus loves his job. It is small, interesting local wines that excite him – the best of AP Ventoux’...

It is a long way, in distance and other gauges, from Lot to Provence: 400km, journeying from Cahors’ earthy, ‘black’ Malbecs and black truffles to Grenache and Cinsault blends full of berries and dried herbs, with the ratatouilles and daubes that suit them so well; into olive oil country, away from the land of lard.

Benoît Liébus, born in Lot, made this journey to become sommelier at Hotel Crillon-le-Brave, an elegant hilltop hotel that seems to have taken over most of the village. He is only 30, dark-skinned and black-haired, and unexpectedly forthright: a Périgord truffle in a rosé environment.